Evaluation of earthquake behavior of structural systems using energy-based methods

In this thesis, the earthquake safety of multi-story reinforced concrete plane frame structure systems designed according to the Turkish Building Earthquake Code (2018) is evaluated through the energy concept. For this purpose, 3, 6, 9 and 12 story plane frames were created and designed and detailed according to the earthquake code principles. These structures were subjected to one-direction static pushover analyses until they reached the collapse point and plastic energy-roof displacement graphs were obtained based on the material stress-strain relations of reinforced concrete sections modelled as fibers. In addition, nonlinear dynamic analyses of these structures were carried out in time domain under the acceleration records scaled according to the regulations of some selected strong ground motions that occurred in our country and in the world. As a result of the analyses, the maximum plastic energy values demanded from the structures by the earthquake ground motions were obtained. Maximum plastic energy demands and plastic energy capacity graphs are shown on the same figure and correlated. The target energy value was determined by taking the average of the demand energies for each selected structure, and the target displacements were determined by subjecting the structures to one-direction static pushover analyses until these target energy demands were reached. In these target displacements, some inelastic response quantities of the structures were obtained and these quantities were evaluated and interpreted according to the results obtained from the time domain analyses and the criteria given in the earthquake code. The results obtained in this thesis indicate that energy-based assessment can be used as a method for earthquake assessment of low-rise reinforced concrete framed buildings.